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Tropical Storm Lala Could Hit Hawaii as a Hurricane Saturday; Iran's End Game after More than Five Months of War; Trump Dismisses Concerns about U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln; Six Dead, Including Suspect, in Series of Killings in Michigan; Jury Seated in Trial of Murder of Rapper Tupac Shakur; Powerful 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Hits off Coast of Indonesia; Extreme Heat in Europe Causing Drought, Wildfires; Trump Orders Vessels to Revert to Old Steam Catapults; Woman Arrested for Vandalizing World War II Memorial. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 15, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's go straight to those headlines.
Hawaii is facing what might be its first hurricane to make landfall in decades. We're going to have the latest on the strengthening storm named Lala.
President Trump brushes off concerns about the conditions on board an aircraft carrier involved in the Iran war, while making a very startling claim about his plan for the Strait of Hormuz.
Plus, a look at what is next in the Luigi Mangione case after he pled guilty to federal charges in connection with the killing of a health care CEO.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Salma Abdelaziz.
ABDELAZIZ: Hawaii is bracing for a rare potential hurricane that could strike in the coming hours, as tropical storm Lala heads toward the big island. Lala is moving over warm water and getting stronger. Damaging hurricane force winds and heavy rainfall should reach the big island Saturday evening.
While tropical storm conditions are expected to move across the rest of the island chain Sunday, Lala is forecast to bring up to two feet of rain and storm surge of up to three feet. Hawaii's governor is warning people to be cautious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. JOSH GREEN (D-HI): When there's a tropical storm, which goes up to 73 mph, or a hurricane, which is even fiercer, you have to be careful. If you're on the road and there is an incredible amount of rain coming down, there are going to be car accidents and there will be fatalities. Do not go out. It's unsafe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Families have been stocking up on supplies and preparing for what could be a very difficult weekend ahead.
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GEORGE STOOS, HAWAII RESIDENT: I'm feeling a little bit anxious, like I said. We're in the past. I felt certain degrees of anxious, anxiety and such but it's a little bit different because just the way they're talking and the way it's presenting and all of it, it's not sounding like it's going to be something innocent. So get ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Now hurricanes have made landfall only a handful of times since record keeping began on those Hawaiian islands. For more on all of this now, we're joined by Tom Skilling. He is a retired meteorologist from WGN-TV in Chicago. He joins me now live from Hawaii.
Good morning. First of all to you, I know it's your evening. So good evening to you. This is an extremely rare warning. I just want you to give me a sense of what's happening around you.
How are families preparing?
What's the level of anxiety and fear?
What is the sense where you are?
TOM SKILLING, METEOROLOGIST: Well, people are well aware of it. The local media has been covering this for days. It's been well forecast. And, you know, Hawaiian weather is nothing if not varied. We've already had over four inches of rain in some parts of the big island, yet other areas have not gotten those rains.
And it was sunny and beautiful in the northwest side of the big island today with strong gusty winds actually on Friday.
But what's happening?
Our rains are spreading in from the ocean now. The storm itself, Lala, is about 165 miles east-southeast of South Point on the big island. That's the southernmost part of the big island. By the way, for those unfamiliar with Hawaii, the big island is the biggest island of the chain. It's also the most southerly of the Hawaiian Islands.
[05:05:00] So this storm is targeting that island but will affect the islands farther north, such as Maui and Oahu, even Kauai, in the next 24 hours.
What we're seeing tonight is the rains are picking up over the east end of the island. They're expected to continue filling in over the rest of the island during the day Saturday.
And the strong winds, which have been gusting in some higher elevations already, will be picking up during the day and strongest at the higher elevations.
ABDELAZIZ: And Tom, just give me a sense personally of how you're preparing for this storm, because it gives us an understanding of just how serious this might be.
SKILLING: Well, you know, it's interesting, a lot of us have sliding doors and so forth. But you have a little wrench that you can crack the doors in such a way the rain won't get underneath it.
Also, a lot of folks come and visit Hawaii. So we have people who have been flying in and flying out and concerned about what the air traffic is like. It would be wise to check with your airlines, particularly if you're coming into the big island, because there may be some delays.
But the fact is the primary period of most concentrated rainfall and heaviest winds will be Saturday and then Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. On Sunday morning, it will continue in some parts of the island -- islands and then it will continue. The storm will continue eastward and rain should be starting to thin out after that.
So it's basically the weekend period that runs the greatest risk of activity. And if you're at a higher elevation, you have a stronger risk of heavier rains.
Also, if you're on the east-facing slopes on the islands, those will be the areas which so typically get the heaviest rains. And that will be the case in this storm as well, particularly here on the big island, which, again, is the southernmost of the Hawaiian Islands.
ABDELAZIZ: Tom Skilling there, talking about Hawaii, bracing for that very rare storm, thank you so much also for sharing how you're getting ready as well.
Millions of Americans are under flood watches in the rain-battered Midwest. Storms drenched the area for a sixth day on Friday, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes where rivers are spilling over their banks. And roads are unpassable in parts of Indiana.
Flood waters hit a 100-year record high of 25 feet deep. And more rain is on the forecast Friday evening. Storms are expected to be moving eastward in the coming hours. A flash flood emergency is in place for eastern Kentucky.
We're following the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia early Saturday local time. Disaster officials there and our own sources say that at least 20 people have lost their lives. And we're still waiting for word on injuries and the missing.
Officials say hospitals, schools and government buildings were damaged in the quake, along with at least 50 homes. Rescue crews are continuing to search for survivors in the rubble.
The 7.7 magnitude quake hit near the island of Flores, which is home to about 2 million people. Authorities lifted a tsunami warning issued just after the quake. One local woman described the moment the powerful tremor hit. Take a listen.
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NONA, VILLAGER (through translator): The quake was massive. The shock was so strong. We were resting at home with family. There were 13 of us inside the house and we all ran to save ourselves.
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ABDELAZIZ: Iran says it is yet to decide whether or not it's going to resume negotiations with the United States. The country's foreign minister says the two sides are communicating through mediators but that doesn't actually constitute real talks.
The statement came as the White House said that keeping gas prices low is just as important as ending Iran's nuclear program. But just a couple of hours later, president Trump contradicted that message.
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TRUMP: For you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline. Just remember you're doing it so that a very evil country cannot have a country. Really, it's the number one state sponsor of terror in the world. We don't want to have them have a nuclear weapon.
So remember that when you have to pay a little bit more, you're at $4.00 it's OK, I mean, I'm not, I'll never apologize. I did the right thing.
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ABDELAZIZ: Larry Madowo is keeping an eye on all the developments in the region for us. He joins us now live from Nairobi.
Hello, Larry. So we're hearing now, of course, from Iran's foreign minister that Tehran is undecided about resuming talks, as we just reported there.
What are you learning about mediation efforts and any attempts to really restart them?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mediation efforts are essentially stalled at this point, Salma, and the Iranians have not committed to coming back to the negotiating table.
[05:10:00] And president Trump earlier in the week did say that they're low- keying these talks. The Iranian foreign minister says that the mediators, Qatar and Pakistan, have exchanged messages but there is no firm commitment on when these talks can resume.
And so president Trump appears to be kind of posturing for the domestic audience here with these comments, because there's some frustration about how long this war has gone on.
He said it would be -- this would be a quick war, a couple of weeks and it would be over for about six months in. And the impact is starting to be felt and people are getting frustrated. And now president Trump saying this.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Pretty soon, I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of The United States. Essentially, that's what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: The crowd there loving what president Trump said there about declaring it a U.S. territory. It's not clear how that would work out, short of essentially deploying U.S. troops on the ground to keep the Strait of Hormuz in U.S. hands.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister responded immediately, saying the strait cannot be seized in a tweet, an executive order or a campaign speech and said that Iran neither fears threats nor is intimidated by displays of force.
So that's that forceful response from Iran that, despite what president Trump is saying, they still control the Strait of Hormuz. And there is independent data now confirming that there are very few ships that are getting through.
The amount of traffic getting through the Strait of Hormuz in these six months is a fraction of what it was there before this war. And when the ships are getting through, some are getting attacked.
On Friday, another bulk carrier was hit in the Strait of Hormuz. The crew are said to be safe, according to the U.K. maritime organization. And there's no damage assessment at this point.
But that is a fear for ships navigating this crucial water point, that they might come under attack in the Strait of Hormuz or from attacks from the Houthi rebels.
So the Persian Gulf becoming very difficult for navigation. And essentially this was not a problem that existed six months ago, before this war began. And that's something president Trump has to deal with.
ABDELAZIZ: Larry Madowo there on all the posturing but very little talking in the Iran conflict. Thank you so much. Staying on that conflict, U.S. president Donald Trump is now just
brushing off concerns about conditions on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. He was responding to multiple reports of crew members trying to jump or going overboard during operations in Iran and of poor living conditions on the aircraft carrier after more than 250 days of deployment.
Now we're learning the Lincoln may not be the only warship that saw a crew member going overboard. Brian Todd has more for us.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have new reporting from our colleagues, Pamela Brown, Shoshana Dubnow and Haley Britzky.
They cite a sailor, currently serving on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, and two U.S. officials as saying a second sailor, deployed to the Middle East as part of the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, went overboard last spring.
That crew member, according to one official, was serving on the U.S.S. Frank E. Peterson Jr., a destroyer that's part of the Lincoln strike group. The official said that incident occurred on April 12th.
The sailor, who spoke to CNN, said that crew member was rescued, then brought onto the U.S.S. Lincoln for medical treatment before being flown off the carrier for further care.
One important note: it's not immediately clear if that crew member jumped into the water or if they fell. This is the first man overboard incident reported on any of the other ships in the Lincoln strike group.
Now as we've been reporting, there was another sailor who officials said jumped into the water off of the U.S.S. Lincoln early this month during what we're told was a mental health incident.
The Lincoln crew member, who described the rescue of that sailor from the Peterson, said that he also witnessed the incident on the Lincoln this month, saying that he saw, quote, "the sailor run and jump off with my own eyes," end quote.
He described that sailor who jumped off the Lincoln as removing his life vest and boots while treading water. That sailor was also rescued.
CNN has reached out to the Navy and CENTCOM about the incident on the U.S.S. Frank Peterson but we've not yet received a response. President Trump was asked about the reports of sailors going overboard on those ships.
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QUESTION: Family members of U.S. service members are concerned about the conditions on for the U.S.S. Lincoln -- DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, no. That ship is moving. No. They're not. That ship is moving right now or very shortly and it's being replaced with another very similar ship.
QUESTION: Has the deployment gone on too long?
Are you working --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: No. No. No. Not nearly long enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: The Navy sent CNN a statement regarding the reports of sailors going overboard on the Lincoln.
In that statement, the Navy said this, quote, "We have not observed an increase in suicidal ideation or attempts aboard the ship. We take every service member's well-being seriously and have religious, medical and mental health professionals available to assess and address concerns as they arise," end quote.
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One U.S. official told CNN the Navy's internal tracking of reports of suicidal ideation on board the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln had actually gone down in recent months -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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ABDELAZIZ: Yemen's armed forces say that a missile attack from Houthi rebels killed one person and wounded eight in a port city on the Red Sea. Two sailors are reported to be missing.
Yemen's foreign minister calls it an attempt to strike one of the lifelines of the Yemeni people. Houthi rebels say their ballistic missiles targeted Saudi military concentrations in weapons, along with boats belonging to Saudi proxies.
Now Saudi Arabia has not commented yet on these strikes. The kingdom has faced increasing attacks from the Houthis, who also declared a blockade on the Red Sea's Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in July.
A developing story from Lebanon now, where local media reports new Israeli airstrikes killed seven people and wounded three others. This happened just a short time ago. Rescuers are clearing rubble and transporting these victims to hospitals.
Lebanon's national news agency says an airstrike destroyed a house in Ansar town, while other strikes targeted a teachers' training college, a religious building and a nearby valley. The Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in response to actions taken against its troops in the so-called security zone.
There's been a new legal delay in president Trump's plan to build a White House ballroom. The president is asking the Supreme Court to step in and allow this construction to move forward after lower courts ruled he needed approval from Congress to proceed with the $400 million project.
A D.C. appeals judge last week ordered all work to stop at the site until lawmakers give their blessings. But the president got two weeks to appeal to the high court.
The administration's top lawyer arguing in a court filing that the ballroom is, quote, "absolutely required for the president's protection."
Mr. Trump insists the project isn't subject to any oversight and says he should be able to move forward without any serious scrutiny.
Prosecutors have secured a guilty plea in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York but the legal saga for the confessed shooter is far from over. That story is ahead.
Plus, nearly 30 years after the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, a jury is seated for the trial of the man accused of orchestrating the shooting. That story and more right after the break.
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ABDELAZIZ: Police say a string of deadly attacks has rocked a Michigan community. The suspect, who has died, is accused of killing five people. Authorities responded to reports of a shooting at a home in Missaukee County, about 170 miles northwest of Detroit.
They say they found three people dead and another in critical condition. As law enforcement searched for the suspect, they found a fourth person dead at another home.
Authorities say they later found the suspect's vehicle in a wooded area, which led them to his body, as well as the remains of another person. Police originally said they were investigating a shooting but have not released information on how each person died or whether they even knew each other.
The suspect in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO is facing a potential life sentence. This is following his guilty plea on Friday.
Luigi Mangione confessed to gunning down CEO Brian Thompson in New York back in 2024. Mangione sentencing is set for December but, as Leigh Waldman reports, he didn't plead guilty to murder charges and it's unclear if he's ever going to face them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lasting less than 40 minutes, Luigi Mangione appeared in federal court in Manhattan pleading guilty to federal stalking charges.
Mangione is charged with gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson nearly two years ago. Mangione telling the U.S. district judge, I shot Mr. Thompson and he died. I knew what I was doing was illegal.
KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, LUIGI MANGIONE'S ATTORNEY: As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe debilitating pain following a broken back while struggling to navigate our health care and health insurance systems.
WALDMAN (voice-over): In a separate case at the state level, 28-year- old Mangione faces second degree murder and weapons charges in connection to the shooting death of Thompson in which he has pleaded not guilty.
AGNIFILO: New York law does not permit a person to be prosecuted and punished twice for the exact same crime.
WALDMAN (voice-over): Mangione's defense team immediately filed a motion to dismiss some of the state case on grounds it violates New York's strict double jeopardy laws.
AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: This was a strategic move by his defense team to again prevent him from being tried in state court. It's not automatic that the state case will be dismissed.
WALDMAN (voice-over): Following the federal court hearing, the Thompson family releasing a statement saying in part, "Today's guilty plea marks an important step toward justice for Brian and for our family.
"While nothing will ease the pain of losing him, we are grateful that the federal justice system has held the person responsible for this heinous act accountable."
JAMIE MCDONALD, U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: The result achieved today now allows our office to seek the maximum penalty allowed, life imprisonment.
WALDMAN (voice-over): In Lower Manhattan, I'm Leigh Waldman reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ: Almost 30 years after rap legend Tupac Shakur was shot and killed in Las Vegas, a jury is now seated in the trial of the man accused of orchestrating his killing. Opening statements will begin on Monday.
The 1996 murder was a bloody moment in what was then known as the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop rivalry. Duane Keffe D Davis is the first and only person ever charged in connection with Shakur's killing. He says he is innocent but it was his own words in a self-published book and his media appearances that rekindled the cold case.
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CNN's Nick Watt has more on how we got here.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Keffe, Metro Police. Come over here.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Keffe D was arrested three years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what they got you for, man?
DUANE "KEFFE D" DAVIS: Biggest case in Las Vegas history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes?
WATT (voice-over): The shooting, the killing of Tupac Shakur at a stoplight in Vegas late one night after a Mike Tyson fight nearly 30 years ago. Here's what prosecutors will argue, detailed by a homicide detective just after Duane Davis, Keffe D's arrest.
LT. JASON JOHANSSON, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: As we all know, Tupac Shakur was a artist who was signed with Death Row Records and that Death Row Records and its CEO, Marion "Suge" Knight, were closely affiliated with the Mob Piru criminal street gangs.
And that they had an ongoing feud with the South Side Compton Crips. Duane Davis was the leader and shot caller of the South Side Compton Crips.
Members of both gangs were, say police, at the Tyson fight in the MGM Grand that night and afterwards, in the lobby, Tupac, Knight and others spotted Keffe D's nephew, Orlando Anderson and beat him up.
JOHANSSON: Duane Davis began to devise a plan to obtain a firearm and retaliate against Suge Knight and Mr. Shakur.
WATT (voice-over): Anderson, his uncle Keffe D and two other men allegedly got into a white Cadillac and followed Knight and Tupac, who were in a black BMW en route to a club. Unclear exactly who pulled the trigger, some have said it was Anderson.
Keffe D is the only man who was in that white Cadillac who is still alive. He's now 63. He was, they say, the shot caller. And under Nevada law, he can still be charged with murder.
JOHANSSON: Within the first few months of the investigation, our detectives knew most of the information I just briefed you on. However, we never had the necessary evidence to bring this case forward.
WATT (voice-over): His own words, say investigators, were Keffe D's undoing.
JOHANSSON: Specifically, Duane Davis' own admissions to his involvement in this homicide investigation that he provided to numerous different media outlets.
WATT (voice-over): "Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something to their (INAUDIBLE)." And in the documentary, "Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders," Keffe D describes the moment he says he handed Anderson, whom he calls Lane, a gun while riding in that Cadillac.
DAVIS: I gave it to Dre and Dre was like, "No, no, no. And Lane was like, popped the dudes.
WATT (voice-over): But in July, Keffe D denied being involved in the killing, telling a Las Vegas news station he wasn't even in Nevada when Tupac was shot.
DAVIS: I ain't worried though, I didn't do (INAUDIBLE) so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I mean, that's what court's for, right?
WATT: So it's Keffe D's own words that landed him in court. Here's how that happened.
Back in 2008, he struck a deal with law enforcement. He told them about narcotics and gang issues. He was up on some charges at the time. And he also told them that, that night that Tupac was shot, he, Keffe D, got the gun, had it in the front seat of the car, passed it into the back seat and Tupac was shot.
Now the deal was that those words could not be used against him. That was the quid pro quo.
Then in 2019, he wrote the book and he started talking about it. So investigators said, well, the deal is off. If he's talking about it, we're going to use those words from 2008 against him. And that is what's happening. The trial is expected to last 4-5 weeks -- Nick Watt CNN, Los Angeles.
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ABDELAZIZ: The extreme heat and fires in Europe show no signs of easing. Just ahead, we're going to go live to Rome for an update on the devastating damage faced by so much of the continent.
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ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. Let's check some of today's top stories. Hawaii is preparing for the arrival of a possible hurricane this
weekend. Tropical storm Lala is expected to pick up strength as it moves closer to the big island. Now forecasters warn it could bring two feet of rain to some areas and nearly three feet of storm surge.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he plans to declare the Strait of Hormuz a U.S. territory. He didn't say how he would do that, given that it's an international waterway between Iran and Oman.
Tehran quickly fired back, saying the strait can't be seized with a tweet, an aircraft carrier or a campaign speech.
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the south coast of Indonesia on Saturday, killing at least 38 people. Rescue crews are continuing to search for survivors underneath the rubble of fallen buildings.
The quake briefly triggered a tsunami warning, which was canceled about three hours later.
On that breaking news out of Indonesia. We want to bring in CNN's Gage Goulding. He is in Hong Kong, following this story live for us.
A short time ago, Gage, our producer, got in my ear and said, you know, the death toll has very unfortunately gone up in this tragedy.
Can you tell me what you're learning now?
GAGE GOULDING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, throughout the overnight hours, the big thing that we were working is trying to figure out exactly how many people were killed by this earthquake. You said 7.7 magnitude.
And for those that aren't familiar with how earthquakes are rated, that is incredibly strong. You know, anything over an 8.0 magnitude is really about as -- really as terrible as it gets. And this is stronger than the Colombian earthquake that happened just a little bit ago.
This brand new video you're seeing here from the disaster agency, the Indonesian disaster agency, I should say, the death toll right now at 38 people dead with 13 hurt. Many of those that have been killed have not been identified. That's according to government officials.
And what we do know is that there are still people they are trying to reach through the debris, through the rubble. We're told that right now. And remember, this is all kind of preliminary figures. There are roughly 10 people trapped underneath the rubble that they know about, that they are trying to get to.
Part of this is, I mean, this is an island community, very hilly, very mountainous, if you will. There were a lot of landslides that caused problems for those search and rescue crews trying to get to the areas that they needed to work.
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And you see this video of the folks running here. There's video -- if our control room can pull this up -- of tourists that are sitting up on a little kind of a mountain peak here in Komodo National Park. You can see the tourists here.
I'm assuming they were led by locals. But if you watch closely, look at the people sitting on the ground, you'll start to see them sway back and forth as the Earth beneath them shakes. You kind of see it there a little bit, how some of those people are standing.
I'm not necessarily sure. You see the girl in the white there with the blue pants. You can kind of see that. Obviously, they're trying to get up because of the fear of tsunamis. And there was a tsunami warning. Thankfully, water only rising about a meter, which is roughly three feet. And other nations nearby did not issue that same tsunami warning.
But I want to -- I want to take you to a quick sound bite from emergency responders there that just delivered an update within the last hour or so. It kind of talking about the search and rescue and the resources that they'll be using. Take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The (INAUDIBLE) special group is also prepared to deploy an advanced team using Indonesian air force facilities to carry out necessary measures on the ground and rescue lives affected by the disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOULDING: Airports, hospitals and other buildings have been damaged. We're hearing about 74 homes, at least in this preliminary account, have been damaged. Salma.
ABDELAZIZ: CNN's Gage Goulding there with updates on those rescue and recovery efforts. Thank you so much for bringing us those updates.
Wildfires in Europe have forced Spanish emergency crews to remove relics from a historic monastery. The remains of the first three kings of Aragon were moved from the San Juan de la Pena monastery. The fire started Monday but it got more intense Thursday because of high temperatures and very strong winds.
Firefighters have been working tirelessly to save the monastery and the very good news is that, so far, as of Friday morning, it remains untouched by those flames.
Many other parts of Europe were not so fortunate. The record high temperatures and ongoing extreme drought are feeding wildfires across much of the continent. Our Stefano Pozzebon has been following all of these developments and he is joining us now live from Rome.
You know, these images that we are seeing across Europe, the skies turned red, people fleeing their homes in the middle of the night, firefighters struggling to contain blazes, these are so heartbreaking. Tell me about the stories behind these pictures. STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the stories,
unfortunately, Salma, are the same throughout the continent. Perhaps for the first time in history, we are recording record breaking wildfires, not in one country or another but it's really been a succession of catastrophic wildfires throughout the European Union.
And even in the British islands, which normally is a country that you would associate with wet weather and rainfall, well, even Britain is now struggling to contain the wildfires, with the local firefighters unit saying that more than 1,000 wildfires have been recorded in Britain, in England and Wales alone in the year so far.
That is already more than any number recorded throughout the whole of 2025. But the stories behind these tragedies are, of course, the stories of family, of tourists, for example, that have been stranded.
We've seen that in Greece, with hundreds of tourists having to be evacuated by small boats on the sea to leave the area where the fires were threatening a tourist resort or people going to the hospital in life threatening conditions.
Right now, there are 14 of them in Croatia alone. And it's really a crisis hitting several countries at the same time. As I was saying, you know, you mentioned -- you mentioned Spain in the lead. I've already talked about Greece and Croatia.
But for example, 1,800 people in Germany had to be evacuated between Thursday and Friday because a fire was threatening the town of Guise. That is in northwestern Germany, close to the border with Belgium.
And even France, that it was -- has just turned the corner on a catastrophic wildfire in the Bordeaux region a couple of weeks ago. That meant that over 250,000 French people had to be evacuated from their homes. But now the French are struggling with yet another catastrophic wildfire, this time in Brittany in northwestern France.
It's also a region that is not known for having these issues in the summer. It's where you normally go, wearing a rain jacket to Brittany or the U.K. and, instead now, the drought is so severe that even these places are seeing catastrophic wildfires in the middle of the summer. Salma.
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ABDELAZIZ: France. Spain. Croatia. Germany. Here in England, the continent on fire. Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much for those updates.
Dire reports about the mental toll on crew members of a U.S. aircraft carrier near Iran. Still ahead, we're going to talk to a psychologist about what sailors could be going through after months without a port call.
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ABDELAZIZ: I want to return now to the situation aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. It's been deployed for 250 days but president Donald Trump thinks apparently that's not long enough.
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QUESTION: Family members of U.S. service members are concerned about the conditions on for the U.S.S. Lincoln --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, no. That ship is moving. No. They're not. That ship is moving right now or very shortly and it's being replaced with another very similar ship.
QUESTION: Has the deployment gone on too long?
Are you working --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: No. No. No. Not nearly long enough. Thank you, everybody.
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ABDELAZIZ: Mr. Trump is speaking there after reports of crew members trying to jump or going overboard and of deteriorating living conditions on the carrier during its deployment near Iran.
One Democratic senator says the ship has set a modern-day record for sailing without a port call.
For more on all of this, we're now joined by Dr. Jennifer Prohaska, clinical psychologist and founder of Tactical Longevity. She's speaking from Overland Park, Kansas.
I want to start with those comments you just heard us play there. President Trump saying it's not long enough.
How does that impact mental health aboard a ship for U.S. sailors when you're hearing from the commander in chief concerns about mental health and psychological strain just waved away?
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DR. JENNIFER PROHASKA, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND FOUNDER, TACTICAL LONGEVITY: Right. So humans have three basic psychological needs, the need for control, the need to be heard, validated or seen and then the avoidance of pain or the option to avoid pain or suffering.
And I think when someone says something like that, that's so invalidating about the experience, it just really doesn't click with, I think, people on the ships that are experiencing that. They -- it's long enough for them for sure. It's very invalidating.
ABDELAZIZ: And during these more than 250 consecutive days at sea, these sailors have carried out combat operations with uncertainty over when they're going to come home. They've had very little rest, a shortage of basic supplies.
What does this combined prolonged stress and extreme environment do to one's mind?
Give me a sense of what it's like to be one of those sailors.
PROHASKA: Well, I think it's fair to say that most people can do very hard things. We are actually less good at doing uncertainty. So we can do hard things. But uncertain is really a struggle here.
And so when those sailors are out there experiencing not only difficulty and the potential for exposure to danger and then also uncertainty, it's overloading their system entirely.
So the psychological pressure and the demands on them are huge. And the fact that there's no end in sight is very difficult. You have to realize that, again, we can do hard things if we know the end. We also can do very hard, difficult things if we have a purpose or a why behind them.
And I think right now, a lot of people, including those people on the ship, are struggling with that.
ABDELAZIZ: I love that you named two very specific issues there. First of all, the certainty. And second of all, the reason, the why.
And we're seeing the U.S. Navy increasingly asking its aircraft carrier groups to exceed the service's recommended deployment, which is a duration of seven months. That's about 213 days.
Should the expectations that these sailors are set up with before they go on their missions, should they change?
And is -- when you say give the why, what does that why look like for those sailors on board when it comes to their mission?
PROHASKA: So I think the why is different for everyone. You have to kind of find your own why in those moments. Sometimes it's finding purpose and meaning by collaborating with your brothers and sisters on the ship.
It depends on the person. Sometimes getting through hard things also requires having faith that you can make meaning in the situation later. And so we have to give some credit to the fact that they're going to have to be able to find that.
We call that post-traumatic growth, the ability to look at a situation and say, I know I'm going to be able to take something from this eventually. I might not know what it is right this moment. But I will eventually know what that is.
ABDELAZIZ: And I want to break down very specifically these reports that we have of sailors going overboard or attempting to. Now the Navy says that it has not seen an increase in suicidal ideation. But I imagine, of course, there are warning signs.
What are those warning signs?
Is it difficult in an environment like this to see those warning signs and identify them before reaching breaking point?
PROHASKA: So my rule of thumb on that question is, with regards to suicide and suicide risk, the best indicator is knowing someone's baseline and then seeing a change from their baseline.
Say they were normally happy, jovial, engaged, always meeting you at the chow hall. And now all of a sudden, they're reclusive and withdrawn. That change from baseline is huge. Maybe they are a really more stern, serious person. All of a sudden they're kind of inappropriately funny.
That change from baseline is your indicator that we're at high risk.
ABDELAZIZ: And you're talking about that change in baseline. But so much of military culture is built around resilience, endurance, following orders.
Does that culture make it harder for some to admit that they're struggling or seeking that help they need?
PROHASKA: It absolutely makes it harder. We know that there's still a stigma around presenting with, hey, I've got a mental health issue I want to address. I do think that there's been many, many efforts made and we're making huge strides in the area with regards to that stigma in the military and otherwise.
But it's always going to be an issue that makes it hard to identify. Absolutely. The military has put in a lot of resources, especially in the last, I'd say, decade, to help address those things.
Could there always be more?
Yes. I also think it's very important to start pre-incident and think about, hey, if we're going to war, if we're going to high stress combat situations, how do we prepare people mentally ahead of time to be ready for those high stress experiences, no matter what that stress is?
ABDELAZIZ: Dr. Jennifer Prohaska, thank you so much for coming to us in the middle of your night to discuss those very difficult and challenging conditions that sailors are experiencing. Thank you so much.
Experts are baffled by a new decision president Trump made about U.S. aircraft carriers.
[05:50:00]
He ordered them to scrap their electromagnetic launch systems used to propel planes into the air. He wants them to go back to older, steam- powered catapults used on the Nimitz class carriers, like the one you see here.
But modern carriers are designed around electrical power and don't have the extensive steam plumbing of older carriers. Experts say the change will likely cost billions of dollars and they say the deployment of the next U.S. carrier, expected around 2034, could be pushed back by years.
A woman is facing federal criminal charges after authorities say she vandalized the World War II Memorial in Washington. We're going to have details for you straight ahead.
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ABDELAZIZ: A Kentucky woman is facing federal criminal charges. This is after she was arrested for allegedly vandalizing the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Officials are accusing her of filling the fountain with soap bubbles and also using spray paint to mark the memorial with graffiti. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more for us.
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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Vandalism of the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., has led to two felony criminal charges against a woman from Kentucky.
[05:55:04]
Now this happened on Friday when law enforcement saw that the balcony that overlooks the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, that it had spray painted words on it that said "Clean hands, dirty $."
There was other spray paint as well, really taking up a lot of that stone balcony area. And a park ranger had seen a woman there with a container and also videotaping herself and then fleeing.
That woman, her name is Melissa Farris. She is from Kentucky. She was arrested on two felony criminal charges levied by the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. She appeared in court on Friday. She's going to be held in detention over the weekend.
This is a serious set of charges that Melissa Farris faces. Now these two charges, they're felony counts for destroying or hurting federal property. But also there are stiff penalties. And it is a felony to destroy or somehow alter a veterans' memorial, vandalize it.
And so, Melissa Farris, she has not been able to enter a plea yet. But she will be back in court next week. We expect her to contest remaining behind bars. But the Justice Department has been very aggressive lately with trying to arrest people who may be committing vandalism on the National Mall and in downtown D.C. They indicated already in federal court that they would like her to
stay behind bars as she awaits trial and not have her released -- back to you.
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ABDELAZIZ: Mystery surrounds a newly discovered treasure chest in Belgium. Construction workers found this wooden chest while they were renovating a brewery in East Flanders.
Dozens of gold bars and hundreds of coins were inside. The value is estimated at 9 million euros or nearly $10.5 million. The owner of the property called the police and investigators are trying to figure out who owns the gold and who buried it.
Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. "CNN THIS MORNING" is coming up next.
